Gray Rainbow
by Crazyhumor
Summary: Damon doesn't want Bonnie's light to fade.
1. Chapter 1

**This is wonderfully AU**

When Damon Salvatore first met Bonnie Bennett she was a tiny little girl with two chocolate colored pig tails sprouting from the sides of her head who arrived late to their church picnic. She wore a agleam yellow sundress that matched her mother's. They were showing more skin then what was normal for women in their church, but they were new. They had lots to learn. His father had met Bonnie's mother at the supermarket where they had struck up a conversation about God and about his father's church. It had ended with the man inviting them to this function hosted at their home and his sermon the following Sunday.

His father had told him all about it as he overseen their cleaning the day before. His father had obviously been smitten and eager to make an good impression. He and his siblings had stayed up to the wee hours of the morning making sure the house was presentable for guests.

So on that Saturday afternoon he had been dog tired. He had been standing with his younger brother Stefan back near the new shed construction, as far away from the grill and the group of men standing around it as they could be. Other children ran around and played games, including their younger brother Nathan, who had somehow found enough vigor to play. Damon watched his brother carefully, softly calling out to the six year old when he became to rowdy.

When Bonnie and her mother walked in, despite being a day over eleven years old, he had been transfixed. He couldn't exactly voice why. Just that he thought her skin was pretty and that her eyes were his favorite color. She and her mother had a light to them. They drew attention to them by simply walking into the backyard.

When his father had abandoned the other men at the grill and made a quick bee line to the woman and girl, he knew that Bonnie's mother was the woman who had his father so filled with energy. When both mother and daughter gave Giuseppe matching brilliant smiles, Damon began to worry about the light they excluded. His father didn't relish in bright things. The man tainted beauty, he killed it. That's what had happened to their beautiful mother, Giuseppe's taint killed her.

He and Stefan shared a frown that day.

(GR)

The next time Damon saw Bonnie was three months later at the Children Choir Competition Showcase, which was something created by one of his father's friends who was also a pastor of a church but resided in Georgia. The showcase consisted of three churches putting on a show. It wasn't really suppose to be a competition, everyone always got the same blue ribbon at the end no matter who was deemed the winner. But they all knew the truth, the adults were very competitive about it. The winning church always had bragging rights for a year.

Damon had been nervous for that very reason that day, because they had lost. They hadn't even placed third out of the four competing. He was sure his father would be angry. But he had found his father smiling after weaving through the crowd of people, his younger brothers on his heels. Beside the man was Abby and Bonnie Bennett, smiling their brilliant smiles at them.

"Look who made it, children." His father had said.

"You guys sing beautifully," Abby complimented. She was dressed more modestly on that day. Her arms were properly covered and her skirt was long.

"You were great," Bonnie chimed in with a bright smile. Her hair had been loose that day and she had been dressed in a pretty white dress with a sweater.

"Thank you for coming, Ms. Bennett, Bonnie," Damon said, his brother's echoing. They hadn't talked much the last time they had met, but Damon was aware that his father had gone out with Ms. Bennett a couple of times.

"How does ice cream sound to you guys?" Giuseppe asked, his hand reaching out to grab Abby's.

Damon was confused, so he stared dumbly. Not by his father taking Abby's hand, they had been courting at that point, but by his father suggesting they go out to have ice cream after a poor performance. His father hated failure.

"That sounds great, papa." Nathan beamed happily.

"Thank you, papa," Stefan spoke up because Damon obviously wouldn't be. The younger boy lightly nudged the older one. "We just have to go talk to Mrs. Births real quick about our performance with the others."

"Great," the large man frowned in warning at the gawking Damon, "we'll be waiting at the car."

(GR)

Damon's favorite ice cream was chocolate mint chip, but he never ate it again after the day his father announced he and Abby were going to get married. His father had been inflated with pride while Abby was nearly pink with giddiness.

Bonnie had sat across from him, looking as shocked as he felt, but not as horrified. A white spoon full of rocky road just at her lips. She should have been. She got over her shock much quicker then he had and had actually managed to smile happily and gush right along with her mother.

"I guess I have brothers now." She had said, smiling that bright smile of hers at him.

"Yeah," he had managed to get out.

(GR)

The wedding had been beautiful and a month and a half later. All of their family came but none of Abby and Bonnie's did. He didn't think they had been invited. He had overheard a big speech his father had given Abby a week before the wedding about cutting out certain people from her life because they didn't go well with what they were trying to build, they weren't moving in the right direction; they weren't believers in the same principles they were.

So it had been mostly church members and the few members of Giuseppe's family who still spoke to him. Despite all of that, the crowd was still pretty large when all of the other people form the other churches arrived.

There had been dancing, cake, steak and potatoes, but no alcohol. His father said they didn't believe in drinking and it tainted you and was a sin. But his father drunk every night, bourbon, he kept in the top drawer of his desk in his office. That had been a secrete though, one of many Damon wouldn't have dared to tell.

Church members whispered about his father's new bride at the reception, not good things. They didn't believe she was good enough. Being unmarried, never married, but with a child. The fact that she had come from outside of their church when their was so many worthy and willing women in it. They whispered about her values and judged her morals. But all of this was done behind whispered hands and behind the backs of the bride and groom. They just didn't notice the little girl dressed in a pink, flower printed dress standing behind them as they said such mean things. But he had.

He had noticed his new step-sister's glassy eyes and trembling bottom lip, and he couldn't help but step forward. He had smiled at her and stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the gossiping adults.

"What's the problem, sis?" He had asked. He shifted awkwardly in his shiny black shoes and too large blazer. He tugged at his dark green tie.

She had stared at him for a moment blankly before bringing her hand to her face and angrily rubbing away signs of tears from her face, looking embarrassed. "Nothing, I dunno wha-"

He had cut her off by stepping a closer to the shorter child, squinting at her face. "Looks like you're crying, Bon-Bon. What's wrong? Someone make fun of your dress? Can you blame them, that thing's enough to give someone a sinus infection." He had actually like her dress, rather he had thought she looked pretty in it. But this was always how he distracted Stefan when their father was being hard on him, teasing.

Bonnie had looked appalled at first before looking down at herself quickly before looking back up at him, an angry little glare on her face. "First of all," her small hands went to her nonexistent hips, "don't call me _that_ ever again. And second of all, my dress is beautiful, what would you know about beautiful dresses, Damon?"

He held his hands up in surrender, a smile still on his face. "It was just a question, geez, Bon-Bon."

Her green eyes narrowed into slits and her lips parted.

Damon made his getaway before she could respond.


	2. Chapter 2

The first month after the wedding was the most blissful Damon could remember in his short eleven years. Bonnie and Abby moved in, Stefan and Nathan moved into his bedroom and Bonnie was given their old bedroom. The wedding had been in June so most of his and Stefan's time was spent feeding the cows and chickens and at the church.

He and Stefan didn't spend a whole lot of time with Bonnie, so they didn't see her very often. She mostly spent her time with Nathan who she was left in charge of watching while their parents did whatever it was they did. She didn't seem to like him very much back then anyway, if the dirty looks and avoidance was any indication. She got along much better with Stefan who liked to discuss books with her and do useless things like name the cows they were just going to eat.

They both were too sensitive in Damon's opinion.

The second month the arguments started off small. Abby wasn't that great of a cook back then and his father didn't appreciate that at all.

"What in the hell is this shit?"

Damon and Nathan had been playing a boring game of go fish, while Bonnie and Stefan read books next to the fire place. They were in the living room so they couldn't see the adults, but hearing them was no problem. They had all stopped what they were doing and sort of froze, heads turning towards the direction of the kitchen.

"It's Chicken Alfredo, Giuseppe, and don't talk to me like that." Abby had snapped back.

"I told you we don't eat that kind of stuff around here, Abby. Are you deaf or just stupid?"

"Seriously, Giuseppe?" Abby shouted. "Did you seriously just call me stupid?"

"It was implied and if you didn't do stupid shit all of the time I wouldn't have too."

"Fuck you. If you don't want it don't at it. There's sandwich meat in the refrigerator. Kids, its time to eat." The woman's voice was wavering with anger.

Nathan went to move towards the kitchen but Damon quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The sound of a dish shattering on the ground echoed through the house a moment later.

"I worked all day on that, Giuseppe. What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me is that I don't want that shit in my house." The man yelled. "Do you hear what I'm saying?"

"You've lost it. You've completely lost it."

That had set his father off.

Bonnie bolted right up when the yelling got even more loud and started for the kitchen. Damon grabbed her arm as she moved to go past him and shook his head. The girl merely gave him a dirty look and shook his hand off her arm. She went into the kitchen.

Damon met Stefan's wide eyes before he stood up and followed after his new step-sister.

Giuseppe had Abby backed against the kitchen counter yelling and pointing in her face. He had to give it to the woman, she was shrinking back. Bonnie stood just behind their ruined dinner on the floor, shouting at Giuseppe to leave her mother alone.

"Dad," Damon had simply said. He's not sure why it had gotten the angered man's attention, but it seemed to pull him back. The man's shouts ended which prompted Abby's and Bonnie's to do so as well. It was quiet for a beat before Giuseppe whirled around and stalked towards him.

Damon stiffened and took a step back, not even relaxing when the man simply stormed passed him and out the front door.

His father didn't come back that day until nearly four in the morning and Abby slept in Bonnie's room. Abby had fixed them sandwiches after their father had left, but didn't really speak to them beyond that. But he had heard her comforting a crying Bonnie who begged to go home and was asking why Giuseppe was so mean.

When their father had returned smelling like liquor, he had forced the boys out of bed and outside to work on fixing the cow pen. It was still dark outside and they didn't have the proper tools but Damon and Stefan knew better than to point these things out, instead they worked as told.

That following afternoon Giuseppe took them all out to Applebee's and all seemed forgiven between Abby and Giuseppe after a longer and calmer talk in their bedroom. Bonnie wasn't so forgiving and gave Giuseppe feisty attitude for seven days straight. That is until an argument between Abby and Giuseppe came up again, this time about the little green eyed girl. A hour later he over heard Abby having a conversation/argument with Bonnie about respecting your elders and how Bonnie would simply have to learn to accept that she was married to Giuseppe now and that he was her new father.

After that, for a long time, Bonnie spent a lot more time with them outside, obviously avoiding her mother.

(GR)

It was in the middle of August when another big argument happened. They had just arrived home from church and Abby had brought up school. His father didn't trust public schools. He wanted them to be home-schooled by Abby. She had argued that she couldn't do that. She had argued public schools weren't that bad and that Giuseppe was just being paranoid. The argument grew and grew until it became a shouting match, worse then the first one.

Bonnie didn't interfere that time. She simply sat on the couch with them still dressed in her blue dress, her chocolate hair held up by a navy blue ribbon. She had frowned down at her lap while Nathan hugged into her side. Damon had simply watched her face. Watch the light inside of her dim even more with each angered word. His small hands balled into fists.

It was the sound of flesh striking skin that brought his attention away from the girl. His eyes widened as he looked towards the stairs. The silence that followed was deafening.

"Abby, I-"

Before his father could finish whatever excuse he had come up with, Abby was stalking quickly out of the kitchen, eyes red, one hand over her mouth. She grabbed a stunned Bonnie and bolted out the front door without a word.

(GR)

He had been happy Abby had taken Bonnie and left. They had left before their light had faded completely.

But they didn't stay gone for long. Two weeks, they were gone for two weeks.

Everyday for those two weeks he would hear his father calling the woman, leaving messages ranging from threatening to begging. He moaned, he cried, he prayed, and he raged. They boys stayed out of his way.

It was a Tuesday when he, Stefan and Nathan walked back into the house after tending to the animals and found Bonnie standing at the stairwell leading upstairs. She looked at them when they appeared.

"She said she was miserable without him," the girl had quietly said, "she said God wouldn't want her to give up on her husband like this. So we're back." She folded her small arms and stared at her feet.

"Betsy finally had her calf," Stefan spoke up and offered the girl a small smile, "I was waiting until you got back before naming her." He paused and looked at Damon when the girl showed no outwards signs of care. Damon nodded once. "Do you want to go see her?"

Bonnie hesitated for a moment but finally looked up and nodded.

Stefan's smile widened before he took Bonnie's hand and dragged the girl after him back outside, Nathan quickly followed in behind the older children. Damon lingered at the bottom of the stairs staring after them before looking up the stairs were their parents surely were. He stared for a moment before turning and following after his siblings and Bonnie.

Abby and Giuseppe agreed she would home school up to ninth grade, then they would go to high school.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is.**

Abby was pregnant by September. His father doesn't believe in birth control so he guesses it'll happen a few more times. She's happy and so is his father. Nathan was happy not to be the baby anymore, Stefan frowned a lot, and Bonnie didn't really speak about that first pregnancy much.

Damon, well he saw the pregnancy as a type of stamp of finality. Abby and Bonnie weren't going to leave. Their light would fade.

Damon watched Bonnie watch her mother as the woman happily stared down at her swollen abdomen, gently rubbing it. As if nothing was wrong, as if her lip wasn't busted and their wasn't angry bruises around her neck.

Damon tapped his pencil against his workbook a couple of times before poking Bonnie in the side with it. She turned to look at him and glared. He rolled his eyes and pointed at her workbook. Abby always gave Giuseppe updates on their schooling, if one of them didn't pay attention or didn't finish their assignment they could expect a whipping.

Bonnie looked back down at her half-finished work before grimacing and getting back to work. Damon glanced at his other siblings to make sure they weren't daydreaming or anything. Stefan was focused and Nathan looked like he was finished.

"Come out here and look at this," Giuseppe called out after entering through the front door. He didn't sound angry, so he didn't stop Nathan from leaping up and dashing out of the room screaming 'Papa'. Abby had struggled to stand and with a sigh Bonnie had moved to help her. Stefan followed them out of the room after a glance at him. Damon pulled up the rear, being the last one to step out into the early afternoon sunlight.

Being pulled from the back of his father's black truck was a four wheeler. Nathan and Stefan were already examining it with bright smiles when he arrived. Giuseppe was talking animatedly about it to the two boys.

"Giuseppe, can we afford this?" Abby asked timidly, obviously not wanting to start another argument.

They all got quiet as Giuseppe stared at the woman darkly. "What did I tell you about telling me how to spend my money?" His voice was pure warning.

"Giuseppe, I ju-"

"No damn it," he waved his hand angrily in the air, "I'm sick and tired of your mouth. What did I tell you before? If I want to spend my own fucking money, I can."

"I-It's just that I was talking to you about how it would be a struggle to pay our electric bill last night. Then you go out and buy a toy?" Abby didn't back down, she never backed down. Damon would have admired that if it didn't always end up the same way in the end.

"Maybe if you didn't spend so much money on that daughter of yours dance lessons we would have enough to pay. You don't see my boys taking any fancy dance lessons." Giuseppe shot back.

Damon had wondered then if he should go ahead and usher the younger children back into the house or if that would just bring Giuseppe's attention onto them.

"First of all," Abby was shaking with anger, "don't bring my daughter into this. Second of all, Bonnie's grandmother pays for those lessons and they have nothing to do with you. We can't afford that, Giuseppe, its as simple as that." She said in her no argument tone.

Her tone must have sat the man off because he moved forward, and stalked towards the woman, surly about to cause some harm. But he never made it, he was stopped before he could get there.

Bonnie cut the man off from her mother by stepping in front of him. "Leave my mom alone, you jerk." She yelled at him in a shrill baby voice. "Why do you always have to be so mean?"

The large man grabbed the little girl by her pink T-shirt. "What did you call me, little girl?" He growled in her face.

Abby's body, which had been shaking with anger had stilled completely. "Giuseppe," her voice shook as she called his name.

Damon had caught the alarmed look Stefan threw him before he stepped forward. He had known Bonnie wouldn't back down. She was like her mother in that respect. Stupid.

"I called you a jerk." She yelled in his face. "I'm not scared of you."

Before the man could strike the girl, Damon somehow managed to pull her out of the man's hold and stand in front of her.

Damon was much bigger then his slightly younger siblings and tall for eleven years old, but he was no where near the size of his looming father. The man had him by several feet and over one hundred pounds. He wasn't a match and he hadn't believed he ever would be a match.

"Dad," he whined childishly, his defensive mechanism. When all else failed, act as annoying as possible, he never failed to draw his father's angry attention away from others and onto himself. "Come on," he shook his head as if the large man was a misbehaving child, "why are you getting so angry over nothing?"

His father face darkened into an even angrier scowl. But then the man threw his head back and laughed, his large hands going to his hips as he howled in bitter amusement. They all watched him, on edge. Damon had contemplated making a run for it, but feared no one else would get the memo to exit the danger zone. So he stood there, staring up at his father with a stupid look on his face.

He hadn't been surprised at all when the man hand sneaked out and grabbed his arm in a painful grasp, nearly yanking his arm off. Damon had been forced to stand on his tip-toes as the man shook him as he began yelling in his face.

"What in the hell is wrong with all of you, huh? You think you can just talk to me like that." He shook him so hard the contents in his stomach began to protest. "Who in the hell do you think you are? Are you the man of the house now? Do you pay any fucking bills around here?"

"Giuseppe, stop it," Abby voice somehow broke through the fog that was over coming his mind, "you're hurting him."

"That's the fucking idea, you stupid bitch." Giuseppe had stopped shaking him though, but was now pulling him towards the house door. "I'm not going to take any disrespect from my damn kids and if that brat of yours talks back to me one more time, I'll show her too. This is my house, so my rules."

(GR)

Bonnie hadn't stopped staring at him and he hadn't been sure if it was because of the tears that had been racing down his face or because his arm was obviously dislocated. Stefan sat beside him and unlike Nathan, he wasn't pressed uncomfortably into his side.

Abby had sat beside Bonnie, balancing a medical book in her lap as she searched for ways to pop a shoulder back into place. Before Giuseppe had stormed out, she had begged him to take him to the hospital, saying they could say he fell down the stairs, but Giuseppe had stormed out of the house taking the only car and cell phone with him. The nearest neighbor was miles away and it would be harder to sell a dislocated shoulder by accidental fall.

"I went to school for nursing for a couple of years, everything will be alright," she assured him, a deep frown on her face. They had already removed his shirt then, which had been a feat in and of itself. "I can do this." She bit her lip. Damon had simply stared at her with tears in his eyes. She glanced at him but couldn't hold his stare for long. "You shouldn't have made him angry like that."

Well, he had already knew that.

Bonnie made a sound of disbelief. "You can't actually believe that, mom." Bonnie yelled as tears fell from her eyes. "I can't believe you said that." The little girl was staring at her mother like she was a stranger. "Giuseppe is mean and he shouldn't be hitting his kids. He shouldn't be hitting you. How can yo-"

"Bonnie, enough," Abby interrupted her sharply. "If you hadn't of ran off at the mouth Damon wouldn't have ever been hurt."

Her words had shocked Damon and apparently Bonnie as well, if the hurt expression on her face meant anything. Bonnie glanced at him before looking away quickly, down at her lap, her bottom lip shaking.

Damon sighed. "Its my fault," he weakly said, "I know how he is and I mouthed off anyway."

"It doesn't matter who fault it is," Abby said as she stood up, setting the book beside her. "Let's fix you up and everything will be as good as new."

 _What a lie._

"Nathan, can you go find something for your brother to bite down on? Stefan, Bonnie, I need you both to hold him down really good, alright? Damon lie down flat on your back, this will only hurt for a second, I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

Guisppe and Abby's first child was born and just six months later Abby was pregnant again.

Bonnie slid two slices of plastic covered cheese underneath the space between the hall closet door and the floor. She stood up fully and dusted her hands off on her skirt.

"Did you get those, Damon. Momma and Guiesppe went to church." She bit her lip and listened for a response from her step-brother. Damon had been locked in the hall closet a day and a half ago for back talking deacon Charles. She honestly couldn't understand why he kept getting in trouble on purpose but knew this time he had done it to take the attention off of Nathan who couldn't remember a bible verse in Sunday School.

She used to hate Damon a year ago. Thought he was just another stupid boy who made stupid jokes and who made up stupid nicknames. Then she noticed how he protected his brothers from their father and protected 'her' from his father and realized there was more to Damon than silly goofiness.

"Why are you still here if everyone's gone to the church?" He finally responded. She could hear him removing the plastic from the cheese.

"Nathan pretended to be sick so we could sneak you some food, I stayed with him. Stefan, mom, Susan, and your dad left." She shifted on her feet, digging her dirty pink and white sneakers into the floor. She bit her lip. "They havin' a meeting here tonight. So I think they'll be letting you out."

"Sucks. Its not so bad in here. I mean, no annoying little brothers, no crying baby, and most importantly no pouting Guiseppe. Me being let outta here ain't good news, Bonbon, I'm just gonna go right back in."

Bonnie frowned at the chipping, white paint on the door. "Saying stuff like that is what gets you in trouble, Damon." She said, trying to get him to understand.

"What? Are you saying Pa doesn't walk around here like a cat with a fur ball stuck in its throat?" He asked thought the door, mouth obviously filled with cheese.

"Damon?"

"What, Bonnie?" He snapped, voice tight. "If you don't find the funny in this stuff, you cry."

Bonnie frown deepened and she felt her eyes sting. She took a step back and rubbed her eyes. "This sucks," she sniffed before quickly leaving.

(GR)

Two weeks after they had moved into their new home in a new neighborhood was their first visit from Child Protective Services.

Bonnie watched, her emotions on edge, as her mother ushered her and Nathan into a chair at the dining room table and while balancing a crying Susan on her hip. Her mother looked so frazzled as she talked to the social worker with wild hair and wide eyes.

"Its not usually so messy in here." She lied picking up unfolded clothes off the table as she balanced a plate of peanut butter sandwiches. "I just had a baby and we just moved in here two weeks ago, I haven't had the time or energy."

Bonnie glanced at Damon who sat on the other side of the table next to Stefan. He looked sick.

"I completely understand." The woman in the dark blue suit said with a plastic smile. "Can you show me the rest of the house? How many bedrooms are there? Do all of the children have their own bedroom?"

Abby sat the plate down, and ran a hand through her hair as she bounced Susan. "Yeah, I mean, we moved to this house for the reason of giving the children their own rooms. Though right now the boys share a bedroom, but they all have their own bed." She began showing the woman out of the dinning room. "I'm not sure why you're here. Can you tell me who called? I can't imagine why anyone would call CPS on us."

"It was an anonymous call, Mrs. Salvatore," the rest of the conversation was out of Bonnie's earshot.

"Who do you think called?" She whispered watching Nathan reach for and bite into a peanut butter sandwich.

Damon was still staring at the open doorway both women had vanished out of. "I dunno," he mumbled.

"Someone at church?" Stefan offered, voice small. He was the quietest one in the family, which was why Bonnie had such a soft spot for him.

"No way," she shook her head.

"Probably one of the neighbors," Damon sighed. "Nathan had that bruise on his face when he played with that neighborhood kid last week. Pa freaking out when he got home and saw probably didn't help matters either."

Bonnie cringed at the memory.

"Its not my fault." Nathan cried out, causing the other children to shush him. He folded in on himself at all of the negative attention. "sorry," he whispered.

Just a few minutes later the woman in the blue suit was walking by, Abby right on her heels. The front door opened and closed.

Abby appeared a second later, obviously mad. "Hold her, Bonnie." She handed the unhappy Susan to her. "Try getting her to sleep or something. If Jacob wakes up just change him and fix him a bottle."

Bonnie glared at her mother. "Where are you going?" She struggled to hold onto her little sister who wasn't that much smaller than her.

"Just do as I say, Bonnie. I'm going to call your father and tell him someone called CPS on us." She huffed. "I bet it was one of those nosy ass neighbors." The woman grabbed her cell phone off the table and bolted out the door.

Bonnie fumed. She wanted to shout after the woman that Guieseppe wasn't her father, but kept her mouth shut. Damon appeared in front of her, interrupting her thoughts of rebellion and took Susan from her, balancing the eighteen month old on his hip easily.

"Hiya, suzy-dozy, your mean big sister was gonna drop you on your head, huh?" He cooed. "Good thing your great big brother was here to save the day." He tickled the no longer crying child, making her explode with giggles.

Bonnie pouted. "I was not going to drop her."

"She was tipping dangerously, wasn't she Stefan?" Stefan looked put on the spot, green eyes bouncing between Bonnie and Damon. Damon rolled his eyes. "You're no fun, Stef. She was practically upside down, wasn't she, Nathan?"

"Yeah," the younger boy happily agreed, always eager to get on Damon's good side.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "He doesn't count, Damon."

"Why don't I count?" Nathan shouted loudly and glared at her. The three older children shushed him again, not wanting to wake the baby upstairs.

"Though loud, he's right, why doesn't our dear brother Nathan opinion count?"

Bonnie crossed her arms and stood. "Because his opinion is your opinion. You've brainwashed him to think everything you think?"

Damon smiled. "You really believe that. I have the power of brainwashing others?"

Bonnie gave him a dry look. "Yeah, if they're seven."

(GR)

"The brownies are a dollar each and the cookies are fifty cents, Mrs. Further." Bonnie explained to the judgy eyed elder standing over the table filled with their mother's homemade sweets. Her mother sat behind her in a lawn chair nursing Jacob underneath a thin blanket. All around them were their church members, mostly women and children, taking part in one of their monthy bake sells. This was the first one her mother was taking part in and the other members didn't seem to have a lot of faith in her if how the other members were steering the visitors away from Abby's table.

"What type of cookies are these?" Mrs. Further asked, picking up one of the cookies wrapped in a small, clear bag. Her face one of disgust. "They don't seem done."

Bonnie bit her lip and pressed her hands into the table before her, fighting back the urge to say something rude. Her mother and herself had worked all night on these sweets at Guiseppe's request. She burned a couple of batches but in the end they all came out fine.

"I think that one is oatmeal raisin, Mrs. Further." She answered. "They're good, I tried one earlier myself."

The woman shook her head. "What would you know about baking, child?" The woman asked tossing the cooking back on the table before walking away with her head up in the air.

"Stupid old,"

"Don't finish that statement, Bonnie." Abby appeared beside her, a sleeping Jacob in her arms. Her mother gave her a stern look. "I got this, run along inside with your brothers and sister."

Bonnie frowned at her mother. She would rather stay outside considering Guisepee was inside the church at the moment and she hated being around him. "She was insulting you, mom." She waved her hand around at all of the others selling baked goods. "They're all insulting you behind your back." she said in frustration. "I heard Ms. Tunnel saying to a visitor not to go to your table."

Abby sighed, bouncing the baby when he began to squirm. "I can't have you out here with me, Bonnie, if you continue to try making trouble. Go on, now."

Bonnie huffed unhappily before spinning on her heels and marching into the church. The halls were empty and dark considering everyone else was outside. She hated being in the church by herself, it was too big and to dark at those times. The only light came in from small windows high on the ceiling.

She moved down the hall, her heart slightly faster then normal with unreasonable fear. She forced her legs to move faster in hopes of reaching the nursery where her siblings were as quickly as possible. She came to an abrupt halt and flinched until she realized the noise she had heard was just voices.

She frowned. The nursery was still on the other side of the church. She crept forward quietly until she came to an open door and peeked inside. Her eyes widened.

Inside the small office was Beth, the woman that made the announcements, and Guieseppe. The two were hugging, but it wasn't a normal friendly hug she was sure because Gueiseppe's hands were on the woman's behind. When her step-father kissed the woman on the neck, she knew it wasn't a friendly hug.

Before she could sneak away and pretend as if she had seen nothing, Guiseppe lifted his head from the woman's neck and caught sight of her. Bonnie quickly darted out of the doorway and started fast walking down the hall.

"Bonnie, come back here," she kept walking and was almost around the corner. "I know you heard me, girl, come back here, right now. We have to have a talk."

Bonnie came to a stop, her chest heaving. She hesitated a moment before turning around and watched as the large man stalked towards her.

"What did you see?" He asked once he was standing directly in front of her. He stared down at her, face blank.

Bonnie shook her head and took a step back from the man. "Nothing, I didn't hear anything, Father." She cringed at having to call him father, but her mother had told her it wasn't really a choice.

"Good, because I don't think you saw what it is you think you saw," he said. "And telling anyone what it is you saw when you're not sure you saw what it is you saw would be as good as telling a lie. We do not tell lies in this family, do we, Bonnie?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No," she answered in a small voice.

"You know what I do to liars, Bonnie. But this type of lie would be a big lie, so your punishment would be harsher, Bonnie. Do you understand me?" Bonnie nodded, feeling sick. "Good. Now, where were you going? Why are you sneaking around the hallways by yourself."

Bonnie bit her lip nervously. "I was going to the nursery, mom sent me in."

"Then go," he said, "I don't want to catch you wondering the halls aimlessly again, you here me?"

Bonnie quickly nodded again before scurrying away.


End file.
